passion, oh christ

It's days like today I want to shoot myself for working in the marketing profession. No fewer than three ads within the space of my 7 minute commute proclaimed their sponsors to be passionate about something. And this is on NPR, for chrissakes.

"Passion" is the new "innovation" for the post-bubble economy, just as "innovation" was the new "quality" for the pre-bubble economy. And "quality" was the new "value" for the post-recession economy, and so on. Every couple years, the 28 brain cells shared by the entire media / advertising industry grasp ahold of a single concept and wring it into meaninglessness, and this seems to be the era of "passion" abuse.

Before the marketing machine sucked life from the term, passion implied an element of suffering. One who was passionate was sacrificing something of themselves to accomplish a higher goal. There's the extreme form of Passion, in which Christ suffered until death by crucifixion. But even on a human level, artists and musicians suffered for their passions, devoting themselves to the pursuit of their craft without recompense or recognition. Passion used to mean that you did something because it mattered, not because it sold.

Thanks to the genius of advertising, passion is now about pushing product, even with the most ludicrous associations. Lexus doesn't want you to just buy their over-rated cars, now they want you to think that the luxurious leather-bound accommodations in your pretentious SUV are the result of a tortured creative sacrifice rather than a cold financial calculation. To further demonstrate this, Lexus have gone so far as to sponsor the Lexus Passion in Film Award ... because upscale auto brands have so much authority on the subject of cinematic excellence.

Even Microsoft has thrown its hat into the passion ring. Microsoft -- cold-blooded conglomerate, Borg-like assimilator of companies and technology -- passionate? I'm supposed to believe that the bits, registry calls, and directories behind Windows were assembled with the same creative lust that produced the Sistine Chapel or the Last Supper? I call bullshit on that premise.

Language is endlessly malleable when it's being used to pitch products because the puffery of advertising (and politics) refuses to allow negative connotations to sully their pitch. And these buffoons will continue to chip away the meaning from words until someone forces reality back into their unrelenting optimism.

So the next time a company tries to peddle passion, ask the suit if he's willing to die for you to buy his crap. Then maybe you'll hear the truth about whatever it is he's really selling.